Friday, August 19, 2016

FC Porto All-time Team

2004 Champions league title

Please also see myAll-Time World Cup Team Index.This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.Domestically, FC Porto is the second most successful club in Portugal. In European Cup's history, they are known for two historical upset wins. In 1987, Porto played against the favoured Bayern Munich at the European Cup Final. They were still trailing 1-0 at the 79th minute when Porto scored two goals within two minutes to win the Cup for the first time. In 2002, the club hired Jose Mourinho and he turned into a Golden team. Porto took the 2003 UEFA Cup and then, a year later, the Champions' League as the underdog.

1987 European Cup

TeamGK: Victor Baia (Portugal)He was Portugal's most decorated keeper. He was one of two keepers who had won all three UEFA main club competitions. With Porto, he won 26 titles, including the Champions League in 2004. He played in the Euro 1996 and 2000, and the WC finals in 2002.

GK: Frederico Barrigana (Portugal)Known as the "Iron Hand", he started his career with Sporting, but he joined Porto in 1943 after the Porto's keeper Bela Andrasik ran awau due to his ant-Nazi stand. He played over 250 games for Porto. He was capped 12 times.

GK: Jozef Mlynarczyk (Poland)He left Poland in 1984 to play in the West. He played in Bastia. It was in Porto where he made famous by winning the European Cup in 1987. For the national team, he was the starting keeper in 1982, where Poland came third and in 1986.RB: Joao Pinto (Portugal)Bobby Robson said of him: "He has two hearts and four legs. It's extremely difficult to find a player like him." He won the European Cup in 1987 with Porto. He was one of Porto's greatest fullback.He spent his entire professional career with Porto, winning nine leagues and the 1987 European Cup.

Joao Pinto 1987 European Cup Final vs Bayern Munich

RB/LB: Paulo Ferreira (Portugal)Ferreira joined Porfo in 2002, where he won the UEFA Cup in 2003, and the Champions' league a year later. In 2004, he followed Jose Mourinho to Chelsea. He helped Chelsea to win their first league title after 50 years. For Portgal, he was capped 62 times. From Euro 2004 to the World cup 2010, he was selected each of the tournament and was in and out of the starting lineup.

CB: Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal)He was the hero of Porto's Champions' League winning team in 2004. He then played 6 seasons with Chelsea. He also played for Real Madrid. He helped Portugal to reach the Final of Euro 2004 at home and the semifinal of the WC in 2006. He was capped 76 times. He was a part of Portugal's Euro 2016 winning team.

Ricardo Carvalho

CB: Jorge Costa (Portugal)Except at the very end of his career, Jorge Costa played his entire career with Porto, serving as its captain for a few seasons. He won the 2003 UEFA Cup and the 2004 Champions League with them. He was a part of the Golden Generation that won the U-20 World Cup in 1991. He represented Portugal at Euro 2000 and the World Cup 2002.CB: Pepe (Portugal/Brazil)Born in Brazil, Pepe moved to Portugal playing for Maritimo. In 2004, he moved to Porto while he established himself as one of the best defender in Portugal. In 2007, he earned a dream move to Real Madrid. At the time of writing, he won two Champions' league with them. Although born in Brazil, he chose to represent Portugal. At Euro 2016, he emerged as one of Portugal's best player as Portugal won their first ever international trophy. He earned the Man of the Match in the Final against France.

Pepe

CB: Aloisio (Brazil)Aloisio joined Barcelona from Internacional in 1988, but his career only took off in porto, where he spent 11 years. He won 5 consercutive league titles with them. He only earned 6 caps.CB: Fernando Couto (Portugal)Fernando Couto won the Double in every leagues he played in and in three different countries. He was a member of Portugal's Golden Generation that won won the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. He earned 110 caps.LB: Virgilio Mendes (Portugal)Virgilio was a legend with Porto during the 1950's. He played for them from 1947 to 1962. For Portgual, he earned the nickname "the Lion of Genoa" after a great performance against Italy in 1949. He earned 39 caps, which was at that time a record.

LB: Augusto Inacio (Portugal)Inacio played for Sporting from 1974 to 1982. He moved to Porto in 1982, where he won the 1987 European Cup. For the national team, he went to France 1984 and Mexico 1986. DM: Antonio Andre (Portugal)Started at Varzim SC, a small club in Portugal before being discovered by Porto in 1979. He would spend 9 years with the club. He helped Porto to win the 1987 European Cup.

CM: Joao Moutinho (Portugal)Moutinho established himself at Sporting before moving to Porto. in his first season, he won the treble, including the 2011 Europa League. In 2013, Porto sold him to Monaco along with james Rodriguez. For Portugal, he became a key player since Euro 2012. He was a part of the team that won the Euro 2016 in France. In 2012, he missed the penalty against Spain in semifinal shootout. Four years later, urged by Cristano Ronaldo, he converted his penalty kick against Poland.

Joao Moutinho

CM: Deco (Portugal/Brazil)Born in Brazil. He was the star of Porto's Champions' League title in 2003-2004, and then, another one in 2005-2006 with Barcelona FC. He was capped 75 times for Portugal between 2003 and 2010. AM: Teofilo Cubillas (Peru)He is Peru's greatest ever player. He was a part of three WC teams: 1970, 1978, 1982. He is one of only three players to score five or more goals in two different World Cups. Cubillas finished Number 17 at the South American Player of the Century award in 2006. He is associated with Alianza Lima, but also played in Portugal, Switzerland and the United States.

Teofilo Cubillas

AM: Lucho Gonzalez (Argentina)After starring for River Plate between 2002 and 2005, he moved to Porto, eventually becoming their captain. In 2009, he went to Marseille and after three seasons, he returned to Porto. At the time of writing, he is with River Plate. From 2003 to 2011, he earned 45 caps for Argentina.RW/LW: Ricardo Quaresma(Portugal)Started his career with Sporting and moved to Barcelona as a highly, rated winger in 2003. He returned to Portugal a year later in a deal that involved Deco joining Barcelona. After three successful years with Porto, he went to Inter Milan and then, Besiktas. At the time of writing, he is often seemed as a player unable to fulfill his talents. However, he had a great Euro 2016 in which scored the lone goal vs Croatia in the round of 16 and the winning penalty kick in the quarterfinal.LW: Ljuinko Drulovic (Yugoslavia)In 1992, he went to play for Gil Vicente in Portugal. A year later, he joined Porto, where he won 5 straight, league title. He was also known for his partnership with Mario Jardel, who won the European Golden Shoe. Later in his career, he joined Benfica and FK Partizan.LW: Paulo Futre (Portugal)He won a European Cup with Porto in 1987. He was the best Portuguese player in the 1980's. He gained more than 40 caps for his country, representing it at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He played in Spain, France, Italy and Japan, most notably with Atlético Madrid.

Paulo Futre

FW: Hernani(Portugal)Hernani was the second leading scorer for Porto and was among Porto's greatest players. He won two league titles in the 1950's. He was capped 28 times.FW: Pinga (Portugal)He was one of the first major star players from Portugal and Porto during the 1930's. He is considered to be among Porto's greatest players.

Pinga

ST: Mario Jardel (Brazil)During his prime, he was one of the most prolific strikers in European football. He scored 266 goals in 274 games. He won the European Golden Boot for two years. His best years were with Porto, Galatasaray and Sporting CP.

Mario Jardel

ST: Rabah Madjer(Algeria)He is probably the most successful Algerian player in Europe. He scored the first goal of the 2-1 victory over West Germany at the 1982 WC Finals. Five years later, he again broke the Germans' hearts when he scored a goal and set up another as Porto beat Bayern Munich at the European Cup Final in 1987.

Rabah Madjer

ST: Fernando Gomes(Portugal)Widely considered to be one of Porto's greatest players. He helped Porto to win the 1978-79 league title after a 20 years drought. He also brought home the 1984 Cup Winners' Cup. In 1987, he was injured at the Final of the 1987 European Cup Final, but he was a key player through the tournment. He played in WC 1986 and Euro 1984.Honorable MentionJames Rodriguez, Rui Barros, Antonio Sousa, Benni McCarthyPaulinho Santos, Antonio Oliveira, Antonio Frasco, Jaime Magalhaes,Derlei,Jose Pedroto, Emil Kostadinov, Zlatko Zahovic, Maniche, Nuno Valente, Branco, Hulk, Radamel Falcao, Sérgio Conceição, Celso.Squad Explanation-- I am not familiar with some of the players. I relied heavily on the 1987 and 2003 team. Some of the other players were taken because of international recognitions. -- I do not know if Pepe or Joao Moutinho belonged to this team. They were rewarded for their performance at Euro 2016. Normally, I do not consider national team performance for all-time club selections. The same applied Quaresma.-- I tried to select more Portuguese players. For example, I took Quaresma over Zahovic and Kostadinov. -- I also selected Lucho Gonzalez and Drulovic Kostadinov because he had spent longer time with the club.-- I did not know much about Branco's career with Porto. My other left backs have done many things for the club.. -- Hulk was voted into the greatest lineup by Porto fans, but I selected Mario Jardel, Pinga, Madjer and Fernando Gomes over him. The same applied to McCarthy and Radamel Falcao.FormationI chose Mario Jardel to start because of his scoring rate. I went for two, classic players playing behind him. I dropped Deco to deep so that I could use Cubillas. I could only find two spaces for the 1987 team on the starting lineup, but Madjer could start ahead of Mario Jardel.